Adjustable display support



United States Patent ADJUSTABLE DISPLAY sUrPoRT Marion B". KlecknerandMata. wi iner Akron; Ohio Application Mai-ch19, rash-,sen'ar No. 277,4382 Claims. (c1. M 245 This invention relates to a novel unit foradjustably mounting articles to be displayed and more particularly ,to aunit adapted for use" in show windows and showcases for supporting smallarticles to be displayed such as shoes, handbags or the like.

More particularly; it is an aimof the present invention to provideanovel display unit capable" of being detachably and adjustably mountedin a display positiori and which is adapted to-- augment and ma lieuseful additional space in as'how window or showcase for attractivelydisplaying v articles of merchandise positions best adapted to attractattention.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unit which may bequickly and easily removed from a show window or showcase when not inuse.

Still a further object of the invention is to'provide a unit havingnumerous uses where an adjustably positioned supporting shelf may beutilized.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view showing the display unit in an applied positionin a portion of a show window or showcase;

Figure 2 is an elevational view taken substantially along a plane asindicated by the line 2-2 of Figure 1 illustrating two of the displayunits in applied positions;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view, partly in elevation, takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view on an enlarged scale takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an elevational view looking toward the inner side of aportion of one of the display units, and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary edge elevational view of a portion of the clipbracket in an applied position.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, for the purpose ofillustrating a preferred application and use of the display unit,designated generally 8 and comprising the invention, a portion of ashowcase or show window is illustrated at 9 in Figures 1 and 2 andincludes an upright frame member or post 10. A metal supporting memberor strip 11 of a conventional construction is secured in an uprightposition in any suitable manner, as by means of fastenings, not shown,to an internally disposed side of the post 10. Said supporting strip 11includes coplanar side edge portions 12 which are disposed in abuttingengagement against a side of the post and an intermediate web portion 13which is outwardly offset from the portions 12 away from the post 10, asbest illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. The web portion 13 is provided witha series of longitudinally spaced transversely elongated openings 14.Said supporting member 11 is of conventional construction and has beendescribed in detail merely because a portion of the unit 8 is especiallyadapted to function therewith.

The display supportingunit 8 includes a bracket, des'-' ignatedgenerally 15, comprising a clip section 16 a clamping" section 17. Theclip section 16 is preferably formed from a single strip of metalincluding a subst'a'n-- tially fiat intermediate portion 18. O neend ofthe' strip forming the clip 16 projects substantially at a right anglefrom the intermediate portion 18 to form the top Wall 20 of the clipwhich, as best illustrated in Figure- 4, is provided at its terminalwith transversely spaced notches" 21. A tongue 22, forming an integralextension of the clip portion 20 projects from between the notches 21.The tongue 22 extends beyond the terminal of theside edge portions 23'of the topwall 20 and terminates in an upturned terminal24 The oppositeend or bottom portion 25 of the clip 16 is curved inwardly to form a'curved extension of the lower part of the intermediate portion 18- andwhich is disposed below the top wall 20. S'a-id bottom portion 25 isprovided with transversely spaced notches in its freeend, as seen at 26in Figure 5, forming a tang2'9' located between the notches 26 and apair of corresponding legs 28, located beyond the re mote sides of' thenotches 26. The clamp 17 has a sub stantially fiat intermediate or bightportion 30 which is disposed against and secure to theouter side of thein t'ermediate portion 18, preferably by a plurality of fas tenings Theclamp 17 includes corresponding jaws 32 and 33 which project at rightangles from the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the bight portion30, in directions away from the clip portions 20 and 25.

One end of a supporting arm 34 fits between the jaws 32 and 33 and isconnected thereto by a bolt and wing nut' fastening 35, the bolt ofwhich extends through aligned openings 36 in said jaws and arm. With thefastening 35 loosened, the arm 34 may be turned relatively to the clamp17 for angularly adjusting the arm relatively to the bracket 15, afterwhich the fastening 35 is tightened to clamp the arm in a desiredangularly adjusted position. A substantially flat shelf 37 of anydesired size and shape has one end demountably supported on the otherouter end of the arm 34 and adjustably secured thereto by a screw 38,the head of which is countersunk in the shelf 37 and which extendsdownwardly therefrom through an opening 39 in the arm 34. A wing nut 40clamps the shelf on the arm 34 and threadedly engages the lower end ofthe screw 38. By loosening the nut 40 the shelf 37 may be turned toposition its longitudinal aXis at any desired angle relatively to theaxis of the arm 34.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that one or more units 8may be detachably mounted on the supporting strip 11. This isaccomplished in reference to each unit 8 by inserting the clip tongue 22into one of the openings 14 and then swinging the unit downwardly sothat the arm 34 is in substantially a horizontal position and theupturned terminal 24 of the tongue 22 is disposed against a portion ofthe inner side of the web 13, as illustrated in Figure 3. The clip 16 issufliciently resilient so that its lower portion 25 may be sprungupwardly sufficiently to allow the tang 29 to enter another of theopenings 14 and detachably connect the clip 16 to the strip 11. The legs28 will bear against the strip portions 12, as illustrated in Figure 6,to combine with the upturned tongue extension 24 to detachably supportthe clip on the supporting strip 11 with the arm 34 supported by thebracket 15 in substantially a horizontal position. The arm 34 isangularly adjusted relatively to the bracket 15 so that the arm andshelf will not interfere with the panes or panels of the showcase orshow window 9, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 and to position theshelf 37 in a most desirable position for attractively displaying anysmall article or articles which may be placed thereon. It will bereadily apparent that the unit 8 may be adjusted upwardly or downwardlyon the strip 11 to position it at any desired elevation and that anynumber of units 8 may be supported on a single strip 11.

The shelf 37 and arm 34 may be formed of any suitable material includingtransparent or translucent material.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously beresorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventionas hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A supporting unit of the character described for displayingmerchandise, comprising an upright strip-like supporting member havingvertically spaced openings, a clip formed from a strip of resilientmetal havingone end defining an upper portion of the clip, said upperportion including a distal end having. a tongue extending inwardlythrough one of the openings of the supporting member and having a partextending upwardly at an angle to said upper portion and bearing againstan inner side of the supporting member when said upper portion isdisposed to extend outwardly therefrom, said clip including anintermediate portion extending downwardly from an opposite outer end ofsaid upper portion and terminating in an inwardly curved part defining alower portion of said clip, said lower portion extending inwardly andtoward the supporting member and having a downwardly inclined tongue atthe distal end thereof extending downwardly and inwardly through a loweropening of the supporting member, the distal ends of said upper andlower portions having legs laterally spaced from the tongues thereof andbearing against the outer side of the supporting member; a clampconnected to the intermediate clip portion and having upper and lowerjaws extending outwardly therefrom, and a shelf supporting arm having aninner end fitting between and secured to the clamp jaws, the Weight ofsaid arm acting to deflect the intermediate clip portion downwardly andinwardly for exerting a downward and inward pressure on the lower clipportion for urging the lower tongue downwardly and inwardly through saidlower opening engaged thereby and into camming engagement with a part ofthe supporting member disposed beneath said last mentioned opening,whereby the clip is tightly anchored to the supporting member by theweight of the parts supported thereby.

2. A supporting unit as in claim 1, said intermediate portion extendingsubstantially at a right angle from said upper portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

